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Tuesday, January 8, 2008 Ending One Airport Runaround By CHARLES DELAFUENTE The New York (NY) Times When
travelers think about air travel these days, many conjure up images of
overcrowded skies. And while that may not be easily fixed, there is another
problem plaguing many airports — traffic on the ground. And for that,
there is hope. Danny Dias checks the arrival board while waiting in the cellphone lot
at the Westchester County Airport. Much of the ground
traffic involves drivers circling the terminal or terminals again and again,
waiting for arriving passengers to make it to the curb to be picked up. The
problem has been worsened by the almost-universal use of cellphones, which
induced many drivers meeting passengers to stay in the car rather than go into
the terminal because the flier and driver could coordinate by phone. And it was
complicated by post-9/11 security measures, which prohibit drivers from waiting
at the curb in many airports, forcing them to keep moving, or park illegally on
the shoulders of roads in or near airports and other potentially unsafe places.
But
many busy airports, from Florida to California, have found a simple partial
solution to the problem by creating what they call cellphone parking lots
within the airport but away from the terminal. The parking is usually short
term and usually free. The lots are simply places where drivers can pull in and
wait for the cellphone call from fliers who have been reunited with their
luggage and are at, or on their way to, the curb. The
idea has captivated not only airport managers, but also limousine drivers and
drivers who are picking up relatives or friends. At
the cellphone lot at Logan International Airport in Boston, William Young was
waiting for a friend after driving from Exeter, N.H., on the day after
Thanksgiving. “It’s a great idea,” he said. “I tend to
be on the early side, and this is better than spinning in circles or paying for
the garage.” Another
driver waiting in the lot, which holds about 30 cars, echoed his sentiments.
Mary Boland had driven to Logan from Springfield, Mass., to pick up her son and
daughter-in-law, visiting from Florida. She has used cellphone lots several
times at Logan and in Florida, and she said they were “ a great idea,
because you don’t have to circle” repeatedly. “With
cellphones, it makes a lot of sense,” she said. “I’m here 15
minutes, and they call me,” and her family reunion begins without a
jockeying for space at the curb of the arriving-passengers area. Professional
drivers love the cellphone lots, too. Mike Gres, who drives for a limousine
company in Mount Vernon, N.Y., was standing next to his car, smoking a
cigarette, while waiting for a passenger in the cellphone lot at the
Westchester County Airport in White Plains one recent afternoon. Mr. Gres raved
about the concept. He also said he appreciated the cellphone lot’s electronic
arrivals board — a duplicate of the one in the terminal. “You
can tell when the flight is delayed,” instead of wondering about its
status, he said. That means he does not have to pay to park in the regular lot
and go into the terminal. The
lot also has portable toilets, which many drivers consider a convenience
— even in the winter. With
about 25 spaces, the Westchester lot was more than half full on a recent
weekday, mostly with limousine drivers. One of them, Gloria Guimaraes, was
behind the wheel of a car she drives for Armonk Limousine. “It’s
great,” she said. “You don’t have to drive around and
around,” as she says she does at La Guardia Airport, where she also makes
frequent pickups, and where drivers often park on the shoulders of access roads
and even on the adjacent Grand Central Parkway. Those tactics do not always
work, she said, because police officers tell her that “you have to keep
moving.” La
Guardia simply does not have the room for a cellphone lot — some would
say it does not have room for one more taxicab, for that matter. But its big
sister, Kennedy International Airport, which covers far more land, does. Its
250-car cellphone lot opened late last spring. There
are no current plans for a cellphone lot at the third major New York area airport,
Newark Liberty, where space is also tight, said Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman
for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,
which operates the region’s airports. Still, he did not rule such a lot
out in the future. At
airports where cellphone lots exist, airport managers usually call attention to
them with big signs. At the Westchester airport, large electronic signs near
the entrance urge drivers to use the cellphone lot. Other airports do the same,
and some promote the lots on their Web sites, too. The Palm Beach International
Airport Web site, for example, clearly shows the lot, which is on the
airport’s northern edge — and warns that leaving cars there
unattended is prohibited. Casandra
Davis, the airport’s spokeswoman, said that when the lot first opened,
officials expected it to be used by private cars, which it is. It has also
become extremely popular with taxi and limousine drivers, but there is no
competition for space, she said. “Everybody gets along fine.” |
